Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

Amazed when I arrived at 5:30 to find that I was already a very long way from the swim start - well past the UofL rowers' building. Took probably 20+ minutes to enter the water after the start gun. The air was cool, so the 80 degree water was actually a relief. My heart rate never spiked like is typical, so I felt like I was having a great swim. The first leg going out along the island was very crowded, so I stayed to the outside as much as possible. Got kicked, grabbed and gave some blows as well. After the tip of the island, my hands hit mud and I found myself walking in knee-deep water for about 100 yards. Then swam another 100 yards to the turn and all was going great. On the long leg to the first bridge, I went waaaaay wide, into the middle of the river to find clear swimming without getting kicked. I enjoyed a nice long solo swim out there, but it appears to have added a lot to my swim time. On the approach to the finish, I was cut off by a swim guide towing a blind swimmer - very inspirational, but I was pushed way wide again, almost hitting the Ford buoy on the far left before I could finally make the turn for the steps. There is no greater joy than finishing an Ironman swim.



Not go out quite so wide on the long leg home. I was glad to be alone and not sure I would trade a faster time for the beatings in the main pack, but by going wide I'm sure I added a lot of time to my swim.

Maybe it could have been faster, but there's a long run involved, a full dress change, port-o-let, and sunscreen, so it's about as fast as I could have asked.

The first 10 miles out was nice and flat, but with a decent headwind. The first big hill came at mile 10, and it was "rolling" for the next 90 miles. I train in a very flat South Georgia, so "rolling" means something different to me than to the organizers. I trained many miles in the North Georgia mountains over the summer, and I never would have ridden well in Louisville if I'd not done that. I was fully prepared for the fast downhills and the larger, longer climbs. It was the short, steep, relentless rollers after LaGrange, on Ballard School Road and back to 42, done twice, that really had a cumulative effect on my legs. The wind also didn't help, seemingly quartering into us on every chance to relax.

The first half was very crowded, especially the out/back on 1694 where some were cautious and others were taking chances to pass four-wide at 40+mph. The climbs on both ends of 1694 were just as expected, and completed without too much damage. The first loop was crowded as well, and the wind, rough roads and relentless rollers took plenty of energy.

Seeing the family in LaGrange was a huge pick-up, and the location in the middle of the loops was perfect both times around. The second loop was a little better than the first, just knowing what was coming. The rough roads got very monotonous, and I saw lots of flats along the last 30 miles. I've heard reports of tacks in the roads and sticks being thrown, but I didn't see any of that. I did see (couldn't miss) the painting in the middle of the road with the crossed out "Ironman" - meaning NO IRONMAN. It was obvious that the locals had a lot of traffic issues to deal with, but I'm sure the vast majority welcome the tourist dollars involved.

The final 30+ miles were great, although not straight downhill as the elevation chart would suggest. The rollers continued, and the final climb off of 42 was tough at around mile 100. The final 12 miles were flat and fairly fast, but still on pretty rough roads. I was very glad to get off the bike at 112!



Drink and eat a little more. The hills, wind and rough roads required a lot of concentration and caused me to fall behind on nutrition through the ride.

Long run in and out, and a full clothes change again. More sunscreen. Not real sure what else took so long.

After a tough bike, the wheels come off the bus pretty early for me. Due to knee issues all summer, I have not been able to run much longer than 14 or so in training. But the plan to get to the line healthy worked and the knees held up well in the race. For the entire day, my nutrition goal had been to run a little empty rather than risk stomach issues experienced in past IM. The less-is-better approach worked on my stomach, but left me drained at mile 14. The gels and gatorade were wearing on me, so it was just a long march to the finish. Out of gas, I walked a good bit more than I had hoped, but it is what it is. I had nothing left.

Took the finisher's photo and stuck around for a while. The cool air got to me and I couldn't get to the warm shower fast enough. I got sick a few times in the shower, losing what had been consumed in the last-half of the run.


Out of gas, and nutrition wasn't being digested.



Tough bike course, but we were blessed with great weather.
Between the wind, hills and rough roads, I didn't eat or drink enough on the ride, leading to a loss of energy on the run. Once drained, I just couldn't digest enough to fuel the fire. I wound up losing about 15 pounds on the day, and probably should have gotten a bag of fluids from medical. It took a good 36 hours to get the kidneys working again, and almost 3 days later I'm still behind on fluids.

But, at the end of the day, I'm an Ironman (x2) and pleased with the accomplishment.

My only complaint would be about the expo - and particularly the lack of on-line gear available. The expo had a limited number of race-specific gear, and very early ran out of Mens' Large in everything. They had plenty of generic M-Dot trinkets, but little IM-Louisville choices, and nothing in a M-Large after Wednesday. Even the finishers gear ran low on Monday, and I see no way to order anything from the official Ironman web site for the Louisville race. I can understand why they wouldn't want to be stuck with lots of unsold merchandise after the race, but you'd think the internet site would have some gear available to order. They're missing out on some sales there.